Useful

Most of my basketball projects are done for my own benefit, to satisfying my own curiosity; but some of them are useful, too. These projects reveal information that could conceivably help a team win. For example, I created these passing-lane charts to track the path of the ball on assists made by 15 stars of the 2019 playoffs.

One thing that stood out was the big black space on the right side of James Harden’s chart. On both his lobs and his kick-outs he prefers to pass from left to right — zipping around his array of left-handed hook-, sling-, and slip-passes — because he is less fluid and less accurate passing in the other direction

During their two matchups with Harden during the 2018-19 regular season, the Milwaukee Bucks devised a defensive scheme meant to exploit these weaknesses and downplay Harden’s strengths.